Stewarthttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart
Stewart's Corporate BlogMon, 19 Nov 2018 14:35:57 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5122155643How “DocuSign” Became a Verbhttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/11/19/how-docusign-became-a-verb/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/11/19/how-docusign-became-a-verb/#respondMon, 19 Nov 2018 14:35:57 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9588Read more]]>If you are in the real estate, mortgage or title industry then you’ve probably heard someone say, “Just DocuSign it!” When DocuSign pioneered the widespread use of electronic signatures back in 2003, few knew that the most eager beneficiaries would be real estate agents. As some of the most “on the go” professionals in the world, real estate agents were more than ready to adopt electronic signatures and DocuSign paved the way with a very easy-to-use online tool.

While eliminating paper (and toner!) has always been important, there are other benefits, including:

Faster Response – At Stewart, the majority of DocuSign signatures are returned in the same day

Anytime and Anywhere – People are mobile with varying schedules. DocuSign brings flexibility

With DocuSign being the de facto standard across numerous industries, many buyers and sellers are already familiar with the ease of use and safety afforded by DocuSign’s bank-grade security. When the National Association of REALTORS® named DocuSign as their official and exclusive provider of electronic signature services under their member benefits program, it became the real estate standard. And, since lenders began following the same path for delivery of required disclosures, DocuSign has moved toward becoming a mortgage industry standard, as well.

At Stewart, we use DocuSign to bring anytime-anywhere convenience to you – the Realtors, lenders, buyers and sellers that make homeownership a reality. Talk to your local Stewart representative today to find out how you can simply say “DocuSign it!” to make your next transaction your best transaction.

Disclaimer: DocuSign may not be available in all markets. Please check with your local Stewart Title office for availability

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/11/19/how-docusign-became-a-verb/feed/09588October 2018 U.S. Monthly Job Creation Hits 250,000, Wages Grew 3.1 Percent Year-Over-Year and Unemployment Remained at 3.7 Percent, the Lowest in 49 Yearshttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/11/10/october-2018-u-s-monthly-job-creation-hits-250000-wages-grew-3-1-percent-year-over-year-and-unemployment-remained-at-3-7-percent-the-lowest-in-49-years/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/11/10/october-2018-u-s-monthly-job-creation-hits-250000-wages-grew-3-1-percent-year-over-year-and-unemployment-remained-at-3-7-percent-the-lowest-in-49-years/#respondSun, 11 Nov 2018 00:44:20 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9577Read more]]>The U.S. added an impressive 250,000 net new jobs in October 2018 (preliminary), with 1.488 million net new jobs year-to-date compared to 1,464 million a year ago for the same period – an increase of 1.61 percent. The total gain in the prior 12-months of 2.516 million represented a 1.71 percent annual job growth rate compared to the 2.149 million net new jobs a year ago.

The following graph shows the total job gains for the prior 12-months. Note the two hand-drawn lines showing the trends in job growth commencing from 2015 through 2017 and then for 2018. The job growth rate from 2015 to the end of 2017, while still positive, essentially diminished, but has turned upwards in 2018.

The U.S. continues the trend of having more jobs than any time in history, as shown in the following graph. From the pre-recession peak in January 2008, total job loss was 8.7 million to the February 2010 trough. Since then, the U.S. has created 20.0 million net new jobs.

Job gains for 2018 are not a simple equation from the prior year, but vary month-to-month on a year-over-year basis. The next graph shows the net new job gains monthly since 2016.

Employment in the Leisure and Hospitality sector (in my opinion) is a great proxy of the overall health index of the U.S. economy. People do not spend money on vacations, cruises, entertainment, spas or dinners out unless they feel good about the future economy. My premise is that the U.S. economic outlook is healthy as long as the employment growth rate in Leisure and Hospitality matches or exceeds that of the country overall. Current Leisure and Hospitality job growth in the prior 12 months was 1.37 percent versus 1.71 percent for the total economy. Impacting growth in this sector, however, is the lingering effect of Hurricane Florence on the U.S. Leisure & Hospitality sector. I see no recession on the horizon at this time foregoing unanticipated economic shocks.

Average hourly earnings were up 5 cents in October compared to September to $27.30. Hourly pay increased 83 cents in the past 12-months for a gain of 3.1 percent – the strongest wage growth seen in nine years. Hourly earnings monthly since 2007 are shown in the following graph.

Other items in the October 2018 jobs report:

Number of Persons Unemployed for Less Than 5 Weeksdropped by 8,000 from a month ago, now at 2.057 million versus 2.065 million a year ago

Long-Term Unemployed(jobless for 27 or more weeks), now at 1.373 million versus 1.384 million a year ago, was down 11,000 from September

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate is now 62.9 percent, similar to the 62.7 percent a year ago

Unemployment The number of unemployed people dropped from 6.524 million in October 2017 to 6.075 million as of the end of October 2018 – a drop of 449,000 (6.9 percent)

Employment-Population Ratio is now 60.6 percent versus 60.2 percent a year ago – the bigger the better

Number of Persons Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons(also known as involuntary part-time workers) are individuals desiring full-time employment but either had their hours cut back or cannot find a full-time job), declined by 259,000 from the prior month and is down to 4.621 million compared to 4.880 million a year ago

Marginally Attached to the Labor Force (not currently counted in the labor force, want and are available for work and had looked for a job in the prior 12 months) now at 1.491 million was at 1.535 million a year ago. Within that group, 506,000 were classified as Discouraged Workers– persons not currently looking for work because they believe there are no jobs available for them. Discouraged Workers fell by 18,000 in the past 12 months but increased by 123,000 from September

The next table shows the job change (in thousands) for Employment Super Sectors. For example, manufacturing added 296,000 net new jobs in the past 12-months and made up 8.56 percent of all jobs. Although the Mining and Logging Super Sector (which includes oil and gas) posted a 9.41 percent increase in the past 12-months, the category makes up just 0.51 percent of all U.S. jobs.

The job growth rate is no doubt being constrained by the lack of available workers. I reiterate my expectation for an ongoing increase in the hourly compensation rate given the lack of skilled workers to fill available positions.

Many of the reasons that the job growth rate remains stuck in the 1.7 percent range is that anyone that has marketable skills either already has a job, lives in a locale without demand for their skill set, or really does not want to work.

A GREAT Jobs Report.

Ted

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/11/10/october-2018-u-s-monthly-job-creation-hits-250000-wages-grew-3-1-percent-year-over-year-and-unemployment-remained-at-3-7-percent-the-lowest-in-49-years/feed/09577The Leaking Tire of Existing Home Sales Continues and Slows the Speed of the Market (Though Still Highly Drivable) — Down 2.09 Percent Vs a Year Ago — Median Price Up 4.2 Percenthttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/26/the-leaking-tire-of-existing-home-sales-continues-and-slows-the-speed-of-the-market-though-still-highly-drivable-down-2-09-percent-vs-a-year-ago-median-price-up-4-2-percent/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/26/the-leaking-tire-of-existing-home-sales-continues-and-slows-the-speed-of-the-market-though-still-highly-drivable-down-2-09-percent-vs-a-year-ago-median-price-up-4-2-percent/#respondFri, 26 Oct 2018 17:25:14 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9568Read more]]>Existing home sales dropped for the fourth month in a row, down percent 4.1 percent in September 2018 versus a year ago to 5.15 million on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis (SAAR) according to National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Sales were down from August 3.4 percent (SAAR). On an unadjusted basis, housing sales in the first nine months of 2018 totaled 4.113 million, down 2.09 percent from a year ago (see the table below). Sales for the month of September 2018 came in at 420,000 versus 462,000, a large 9.1 percent year-over-year decline.

The tire leak gains momentum. Still drivable, though. Just not as fast.

September 2018 median price was $258,100, up 4.2 percent from a year ago, with the average price of $296,800 up 2.5 percent year-over-year. The median and average prices set all-time records in June 2018. Median home price declines in July, August and September were all due to normal seasonality changes. Median price has now risen 79 consecutive months on a year-over-year basis.

The following graph shows the trend in housing sales based on a trailing 12-month basis (TTM), but with monthly median prices. Sales are definitively easing down, despite a strong U.S. economy.

Sales and median prices are shown on a monthly basis in the following two graphs. Sales have been up in just four of the past nine months in 2018 on a year-over-year basis. Median price, on the other hand, continued on an upward accent driven by minimal inventory of just 4.2 months (seasonally adjusted) with 6.0 months considered normal. Inventory was not much changed from 4.0 months year ago. The inventory of available listings tallied 1.88 million versus 1.86 million a year ago.

The trend and corresponding seasonality in average prices are shown in the next graph.

Other metrics and insights from the September 2018 NAR release included:

47 percent of the sales closed in September were on the market less than one month, with the typical property lasting just 32 days from the day of listing to having a signed purchase contract

First-time homebuyers were present in three-out-of-every 10 transactions (32 percent) – up slightly from 29 percent a year ago

Investors acquired 13 percent of all sales in September 2018, the same as August but down from 15 percent a year ago

All-cash sales made up one-in-five closings (21 percent) in September

Distressed sales made up 3 percent of September’s closings down from 4 percent a year ago. Foreclosures made up 2 percent and short sales 1 percent

Million dollar and up homes made up 3.3 percent of all sales in September 2018 (down from 3.5 percent the prior month), buy only the fifth time on a monthly basis above the 2 percent range

The slowly leaking tire analogy continues. The housing-sales tire is still drivable at moderate speeds, but the warning light is on and increasing in intensity. For now, however, housing demand remains fundamentally strong given the U.S. economy with demand still out-pacing supply resulting in ongoing home price increases albeit shrinking home sales.

Ted

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/26/the-leaking-tire-of-existing-home-sales-continues-and-slows-the-speed-of-the-market-though-still-highly-drivable-down-2-09-percent-vs-a-year-ago-median-price-up-4-2-percent/feed/09568ALTA ONE 2018 in Reviewhttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/16/alta-one-2018-in-review/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/16/alta-one-2018-in-review/#respondTue, 16 Oct 2018 17:15:06 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9554Read more]]>Having returned from the ALTA ONE 2018 conference held at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, I’ve had time to reflect on the sessions, meetings and dinner conversations that stood out. In thinking about the topics, two big themes seemed to rise to the top: consumer protection (wire fraud) and consumer experience. Here’s what the title and settlement industry’s best and brightest had to say.

Consumer Protection

Across multiple sessions and dozens of conversations, it became clear that consumer protection is top of mind not only for real estate and mortgage professionals, but also especially in the settlement space where we have to ensure that the right people are receiving funds. Stewart’s own chief information security officer, Genady Vishnevetsky, provided numerous examples of security gaps and social engineering efforts of fraudsters seeking entry points into real estate and mortgage transactions where the money changing hands is always huge.

While the industry grapples with computer security and continues to demand training that keeps up with the ever-evolving threat landscape, the core issue is knowing the true identity of the parties in the transaction. Fraudsters continue to expand their efforts across desktop, mobile and now through VoIP.

In a small, informal meeting of long-time industry veterans, one of my counterparts accurately said, “The real estate business isn’t just local anymore, so we often don’t know who we are working with – or sending money to.” This led to a discussion of an effort underway by Microsoft® and other tech giants on a topic new to our industry: Decentralized ID’s (“DID”). The concept here is that people will have to “prove” who they are by various means and then will have full control over who sees what.

When you think “decentralized,” think blockchain. Blockchain is the darling of Silicon Valley and Wall Street that may just bring the power of identity management to the people. Look for more as the Digital Identity Foundation and similar efforts make progress in the tech world that will ultimately benefit us in our real estate world.

Consumer Experience

I had the privilege of speaking in a session entitled, “Tech Trends You Can’t Ignore” where my fellow experts and I focused largely on the consumer experience (CX) of today’s home buyer. Today’s title agent has to do more than just put up a website. Today, title agents must serve real estate and mortgage professionals and their consumer customers by meeting them where they are, whether that be in person; via website, mobile or phone; or through any combination of the above. And, while customers are increasingly demanding more options to suit their busy lifestyles, this business will never become a push-button business, as our A-List speaker on innovation pointed out in his presentation (below) at the Stewart breakfast:

At the end of our session we provided a recap in “The List,” which included the top seven areas where today’s professionals must focus to meet today’s demands. Would you like a copy of “The List”? Just email me at marvin.stone@stewart.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Until next time,

Marvin

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/16/alta-one-2018-in-review/feed/09554Another Top-10 List — Greenest Cities in America 2018http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/16/another-top-10-list-greenest-cities-in-america-2018/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/16/another-top-10-list-greenest-cities-in-america-2018/#respondTue, 16 Oct 2018 13:11:00 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9549Read more]]>No doubt there is general agreement on the idea that we should leave Mother Earth in better shape than when we arrived. The extent to how much should be done to preserve and improve this planet, however, likely varies across every individual and from city to city.

WalletHub developed a methodology to rank the 100 largest metros (population) based on green issues in 2018 first using four key dimensions: Environment, Transportation, Energy Sources and Lifestyle & Policy. There is no inclusive agreement on these metrics and the related weightings. For example, no inclusion of recycling is in these metrics. Since recycle programs vary widely across the country, it was not possible to compare one city to another based on available data.

The following table shows the rankings of the top-10. All but one of these was from the West – with Washington, D.C. the outlier. All of the others are either West Coast or deep southwest (Honolulu). Six of the 10 were located in California.

Even among stringent environmentalists, there is disagreement as to the tradeoffs for a greener America. Just look at the material diversity across the 100 cities included in WalletHub’s study. The push today for completely renewable, zero-carbon electrical generation has seen rampant growth in solar and wind turbines. Yet these same wind turbines result in the loss of bird life in those locales and regions. So do powerlines regardless of the electricity source.

Again note these findings are predicated on the metrics and methodology utilized by WalletHub – alter any of these and the rankings will change.

Ted

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/16/another-top-10-list-greenest-cities-in-america-2018/feed/09549Another Top-10 List — Where Vacation Home Sellers are Pocketing the Largest Profits 2018http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/15/another-top-10-list-where-vacation-home-sellers-are-pocketing-the-largest-profits-2018/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/15/another-top-10-list-where-vacation-home-sellers-are-pocketing-the-largest-profits-2018/#respondMon, 15 Oct 2018 18:41:01 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9546Read more]]>Not only have vacation homes been a benefit for owners in escaping the stresses of life, those recently selling are pocketing some impressive gains on the way out of the closing. As usual, I invoke the TINSTAANREM axiom — There Is No Such Thing As A National Real Estate Market or a National Economy. The same is true regarding the home price increase of vacation properties. That is more the interaction of supply and demand – of which factors such as droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and tornados impact.

To identify the top home appreciated vacation home markets, Realtor.com examined the 500 largest metros with second home making up at least 12 percent of all properties. Then examined all transactions selling in the past 12 months comparing the most recent sales to the last sales price going back to 2008. Annualized profit was the difference between these two sales of the same property without adjusting for transaction costs or any potential improvements made on the homes.

The following table details the top-10 markets using Realtor.com’s methodology and CoreLogic data, along with the annualized return (based on the difference on the prices) and also the current median list price homes. They limited the findings to a maximum two metros per state in order to assure some geographic diversity.

Always remember that current market performance may not mirror past returns. Be aware that any major future weather event or things such as earthquakes may change returns dramatically in just minutes.

As Realtor.com said, however, “Chill out, and then cash in.”

Ted

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/15/another-top-10-list-where-vacation-home-sellers-are-pocketing-the-largest-profits-2018/feed/09546Best State Business Tax Environments 2019 — Tax Foundationhttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/08/best-state-business-tax-environments-2019-tax-foundation/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/08/best-state-business-tax-environments-2019-tax-foundation/#respondMon, 08 Oct 2018 12:54:53 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9538Read more]]>Just as words have meaning, taxes have economic ramifications. This annual blog on the Best State Tax Business Environments begins as it commenced and ended each of the past two years in the prior sentence .

Each state varies in one form or another in how much services their government provides and how those services are funded. Big government requires big funding, and vice-versa. As usual, I invoke the TINSTAANREM axiom — There Is No Such Thing As A National Real Estate Market. Nor is there such a thing as equal sources for tax revenues for state governments.

As stated in the blog last year (slightly revised):

Taxes, or lack thereof, can be an attraction or a turn-off to businesses relocating or expanding across the country. As an economist, for example, I would have an issue residing where there was a state income tax. Taxes are not the only reason why firms stay, move or expand elsewhere. There is a vast array of factors as to why businesses locate where they do: access to transportation, resources, skilled employees, markets, and family. When I was in graduate school, a valuable key course that specifically addressed this was named The Theory of the Firm in Economic Space. It was taught by Dr. Melvin Greenhut, a globally renowned economist in the study of why firms locate where they do. In modern terms and in addition to the previously mentioned factors plus taxes, other items of importance in Dr. Greenhut’s findings included:

Jet Airline Service

Interstate Highways

Rail Service and Ports (for those businesses needing transportation access)

And perhaps most importantly: It Had to be a Location Where the CEO Wanted to Live

How do the state’s compare when it comes to taxes? To answer this, each year the Tax Foundation, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., ranks the tax friendliness of each state. This report is known as Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. They then rank each state based on five taxes (with the weighting of each noted below). The weighting differences were established as follows as stated in the Tax Foundation report:

“The five components are not weighted equally, as they are in some indices. Rather, each component is weighted based on the variability of the 50 states’ scores from the mean. The standard deviation of each component is calculated and a weight for each component is created from that measure. The result is a heavier weighting of those components with greater variability.”

The following states have the best state tax environments based on these five taxes and respective ratings

.

Just because a state has a great tax environment, however, does not necessarily always equate to a strong growing economy. The following table shows the job growth rates for each states in the 12-months ending August 2018. While Alaska has the 2nd best overall business tax environment, it ranks last in job growth in the prior 12 months. Some of the best tax environments, however, do have strong job growth rates. Five of the top-10 job growth rate states also rank in best five states based on the business tax climate.

As always, for every winner there a loser. The next table lists the bottom-10 states when it comes to taxes.

All 50 states are shown in the graphic with their respective 2019 rankings as provided by the Tax Foundation.

The following table lists each state along with the overall business tax climate rank by the Tax Foundation plus ranks across the 50 states for each of the five taxes. While the District of Columbia is included, it does not impact the rankings among the 50 states.

Individual states were referenced with notable state-specific tax changes included in this year’s rankings as follows

Connecticut – A temporary corporate income tax surcharge (that was originally set to expire in 2015) phased down from 20 to 10 percent in 2018 reducing the top marginal tax rate from 9.0 to 8.25 percent. Overall rank remains 47th best out of 50 states

Delaware – Delaware repealed a decade-old estate tax which had generated little revenue but drove many wealthy seniors to depart to the state, resulting in the overall rank rising from 16th to 11th best

Hawaii – restored higher tax rates and brackets which expired a year ago, with three tax brackets and a top marginal rate now of 11 percent, up from 8.25 percent. The state fell from 34th best overall to 38th, with the individual income tax rank going from 38th best to 47th

Idaho – Cuts in individual and corporate income taxes of 0.475 percent (with each tax falling from 7.40 percent to 6.925 percent) saw the state rise from 23rd best overall to 21st

Indiana – Prior legislation has corporate taxes reducing through 2022, with the rate falling from 6 to 5.75 percent in in 2018. The state does, however, collect on all five major tax categories

Kansas – Revenue shortfalls caused by tax cuts in 2012 instigated personal income tax increases in the past two years, adding an additional tax bracket and seeing the rate increase from 5.2 to 5.7 percent

Kentucky – Simplified taxes moving from a six-bracket individual income tax with a 6 percent top rate to a 5 percent single-rate tax. It eliminated a three-bracket corporate income tax and instigated a single rate, broadened the sales tax base, suspended numerous business tax credits and raised cigarette taxes. The state improved from 39th best to 23rd best due to these tax changes

New Jersey – Phased out estate tax in 2018, reduced sales tax rate from 6.875 percent to 6.625 percent (a two-year swap with higher gasoline taxes). A new individual income tax bracket was added with a 10.75 percent rate – the 3rd highest in the country. Also added was a corporate income tax surcharge on companies with $1 million or more income, increasing the rate to 11.5 percent. New Jersey remains the bottom-ranked state on taxes

Vermont — Set to gain from the federal tax reform, eliminated an individual income tax bracket and changed the top rate from 8.95 percent to 8.75 percent

District of Columbia – in 2014 D.C. commenced cutting personal tax rates in the middle class bracket, expanded the sales tax base and cut the corporate tax rate to 8.25

No doubt there will be more changes in 2019. Alaska, for example, with no state corporate income tax, no state personal income tax, no state retail sales tax and no state government participation in property taxes, bases their entire revenue source to run the state government on oil and gas production taxes and federal grants. Alaska today has just five working drilling rigs and is down to 494,000 barrels per day total statewide production including offshore. The state’s proposed fiscal year 2019 capital budget is $150 million, down from almost $2 billion in fiscal year 2013. The deficit in 2019 under this proposed budget would be $2.5 billion. The Alaskan Permanent Fund has a $65.3 billion balance, with a $1,600 dividend in 2018 payment to Alaskans.

As stated at the beginning of this blog: Just as words have meaning, taxes have ramifications.

Ted

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/08/best-state-business-tax-environments-2019-tax-foundation/feed/09538Retail Sales, Where America Shops the Most, and a Look at Growing Ecommercehttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/05/retail-sales-where-america-shops-the-most-and-a-look-at-growing-ecommerce/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/05/retail-sales-where-america-shops-the-most-and-a-look-at-growing-ecommerce/#respondFri, 05 Oct 2018 19:19:27 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9532Read more]]>Retail and food service sales (including growing, processing, manufacturing, preparing, shipping and selling), make up more than one-half of the GDP of the U.S. and hit a record all-time high in July 2018, as shown in the following graph. The robust U.S. economy is being driven by strong retail and food service sales – with no indication of easing at the current time.

Now imagine a business where more than one-half of all American shoppers spent money every month. As of this past April , there were two in the U.S. according to a study by 24/7 Wall St: McDonalds and Walmart in which 52.8 percent 51.4 percent of all shoppers, respectively, visited that month. Retailers that garnered one-out-of-every three shoppers included Subway, Walgreens and Starbucks. One-out-of-every four shoppers visited CVS and Target, while one-out-of-every five hit Taco Bell, Burger King, Wendy’s and Dollar Tree.

A study by 24/7 Wall St focused on where America shopped in April 2018. Utilizing data from Placed Insights and the SEC, they listed the top-25 destinations for shoppers aged 13 and up. Also included in their study were store numbers and retail sales in 2017 taken from SEC filings. Eight of the top-25 were restaurants and three included grocery sales, with many of the others selling food or beverages of some sorts.

No doubt many of these firms are being impacted by Ecommerce. All have their own customer-facing Web Sites and APPs marketing to consumers. Most retailers have adopted a hybrid approach where consumers may buy at bricks and mortar locations or online – their choice. The following graph shows quarterly ecommerce retail sales (not seasonally adjusted) since 2000. Ecommerce sales now make up almost $1 out of every $10 of retail sales volume.

Overall, strong retail and food service sales bode well for a continuing growing U.S. economy.

Ted

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/05/retail-sales-where-america-shops-the-most-and-a-look-at-growing-ecommerce/feed/09532Technology the Economy and Commercial Real Estate – Where It’s Happeninghttp://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/03/technology-the-economy-and-commercial-real-estate-where-its-happening/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/03/technology-the-economy-and-commercial-real-estate-where-its-happening/#respondWed, 03 Oct 2018 15:21:42 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9524Read more]]>We all use technology daily, but technology impacts some economies and commercial real estate (CRE) markets more than others. The tech sector, with 7.2 million workers at tech companies in the U.S., now makes up 4.8 percent of the U.S. workforce.

A just-released study, Cushman & Wakefield’s Tech Cities 2.0, examines where tech has the greatest impact on the economy and commercial real estate. The 25 Tech Cities were categorized in three separate groups:

Tech isa Critical Component of the local economy and CRE market – tech companies account for more than 8 percent of all jobs

Austin

Boston

Provo

Raleigh/Durham

Salt Lake City

San Diego

San Francisco

Silicon Valley

Seattle

Washington, DC Metro

Tech isa Key Driver of the local economy and CRE market — tech companies account for 6 to 8 percent of all jobs:

Atlanta

Dallas/Fort Worth

Denver

Minneapolis/St. Paul

Montreal

Portland, OR

Toronto

Vancouver

Tech is Important to the local economy and CRE market, but there are other important sectors as well — tech companies account for less than 6 percent of all jobs:

Baltimore

Charlotte

Chicago

Greater Los Angeles

South Florida

New York City

Philadelphia

The tech sector share of total employment in the these markets as of mid-2018 was as follows:

The report also notes five cities to watch for future tech growth and economic impact:

The following is taken directly from Cushman and Wakefield’s summary of the Tech Cities 2.0 report, These are direct quotes from the Cushman & Wakefield Study:

“Key findings from Tech Cities 2.0:

Total employment in the Tech 25 has increased an average of 2.1% per year since 2010, compared to 1.4% per year for the rest of North America

Since the beginning of 2017, 42% of the square footage in the top 100 leases in North America were signed by tech companies, more than double the share of the number two segment financial services

The fastest growing tech employment market since 2010 is Provo, Utah. Though a smaller market than the others on the list, the number of people employed by tech companies increased 64.9%, surpassing the 62.7% increase in San Francisco

Average asking rents in cities like Atlanta, Austin, Seattle, and San Francisco have increased more than 50% since 2010

Property prices are skyrocketing. Among the Top 25, property prices have increased on average by 59%, with the greatest increases happening in Austin, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco

Cities that are targets for venture capital funding are the most important tech cities in North America. Among the Top 25, VC funding grew by an average of $2.0 billion compared to $457 million for the top 101 markets

The top four cities for new construction are all cities where tech is a critical factor in the local real estate market, including: Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Seattle, and San Francisco”

Not only have these tech-job centric cities outperformed the overall U.S. economy, the expectation is for more of the same. In terms of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, these cities are already where the puck is going to be.

Ted

]]>http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/03/technology-the-economy-and-commercial-real-estate-where-its-happening/feed/09524Another Top-10 List — Best Cities to Work in Tech 2018http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/02/another-top-10-list-best-cities-to-work-in-tech-2018/
http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/2018/10/02/another-top-10-list-best-cities-to-work-in-tech-2018/#respondTue, 02 Oct 2018 22:00:50 +0000http://blog.stewart.com/stewart/?p=9521Read more]]>Technology continues to be a market-leading growth industry, attracting the best of the best workers given potential financial rewards. Some of the major technology hubs, however, rank among the most expensive places to live. Those cities costs often overwhelm even the higher tech incomes. While San Francisco and San Jose were the original tech meccas in the U.S., the cost of living can be prohibitive. Median single family home prices in San Francisco hit $1.65 million in July 2018, Santa Clara County (San Jose) $1.351 million and $1.61 million in San Mateo County according to the California Association of Realtors®.

Where then, are the places for people to work and live with affordability plus tech related jobs? To answer this, SmartAsset (for the fifth year in a row) analyzed and ranked the 25 best tech cities for 2018. They examined 190 cities, with factors in their rankings including:

Percent of All Workers in Computer and Mathematical Occupations – from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2017 data

Average Tech Salary – BLS 2017 data

Ratio of Average Tech Salary to the Average Salary Across All Fields – BLS May 2017 Occupation Employment Statistics

Unemployment Rate – based on holders with bachelor’s degrees, sourced from the Census Bureau’s 2016 5-Year American Community Survey

Cost of Living – Council for Community and Economic Research , data from 2017

Each of these factors were ranked across the 190 cities with an equal weighting for each metric. The city with the lowest average ranking received a zero score and a 100 for the city with the best ranking. The following table shows the top-10 based on SmartAsset’s metrics and methodology.

Tune in tomorrow for those cities in which technology has the greatest impact on their economies and commercial real estate markets based on the just-released Cushman & Wakefield Tech Cities 2.0 report.

A final note. The importance of education in a core STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is obvious in the tech incomes reported in the top-10 list above compared to typical income for all people. Tech workers made from 66 percent to 91 percent more than the average person in the market.

Everyone out there – you simply cannot have too much math, physics, computer and related courses in high school.